December 13, 2017

New Zealand seafood industry faces bright prospects - report

The latest "Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries" report paints a positive picture for the future of New Zealand's commercial seafood industry, according to Seafood New Zealand.

Seafood New Zealand Chief Executive Tim Pankhurst said the report, released this week by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), reflected the industry's own assessment-that the future of commercial seafood, both wild capture and aquaculture, was in good heart.

Pankhurst said the report was confident about aquaculture and forecast that expanding aquaculture production would drive increased export volumes of mussels, oysters and salmon.

The report also confirmed that export prices for wild capture fisheries including jack mackerel and barracouta are expected to continue to grow, driven by increased overseas demand and sustainability constraints on volume, he added.

MPI predicts a 4.4% increase in seafood exports to NZ$1.8 billion (US$1.25 billion) to June 2018 and says this will rise to NZ$2.3 billion (US$1.6 billion) by 2025.

Pankhurst said the report mirrored a recent BERL (Business and Economic Research Limited) report that found that the New Zealand fishing industry had a total output value of NZ$4.1 billion (US$2.85 billion).

He noted that while aquaculture was not included in the BERL report, it "adds at least another $500 million (US$347.07 million)".